The question of whether insects experience pain and suffering is moving from philosophical speculation toward empirical investigation, with policy implications for billions of insects killed daily in agriculture and pest control.
The precautionary principle creates some moral obligation to take insect welfare seriously given genuine uncertainty. While current evidence does not support the same confident assertions of sentience as for fish or mammals, the behavioral and neurological evidence for some form of nociception in insects is growing. Policy frameworks should track the science rather than assuming comfortable answers.